(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the steering assembly of electric scooters, and more particularly to a device for adjusting the inclination of the steering assembly.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Recently, electric scooters have been widely used among the elders and the handicapped to improve their mobility. Significant development efforts therefore have been directed toward enhancing the electric scooters in various aspects.
In general, an electric scooter is advanced by its built-in battery's supplying electricity to power the electric motor, which in turn drives the rear wheels via the transmission mechanism. A conventional electric scooter A, as shown in FIG. 1, mainly contains a body 1, a cover 2, and a seat assembly 3. The body 1 is composed of a steering assembly 11, a front wheel 12, rear wheels 13, a footrest 14, a power system 15, and an adjustment device 16. The cover 2 provides the housing for the power system 15 while the seat assembly 3 provides comfortable seating for a driver.
To ease the storage and transportation and to suit a driver's specific stature, there are electric scooters with an adjustable steering assembly 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the adjustable steering assembly 11 has a main shaft 111 pin-joined to a joining seat 141 in a front section of the footrest 14 by a pin rod 112 and the main shaft 111 could pivot around the pin rod 112. An adjustment device 16 is installed on a rear side of the main shaft 111. The adjustment device 16 is composed of a telescoping rod 16a having an hollow external rod 161 and an internal rod 163, and a releasing member 162.
The telescoping rod 16a has its top end pin-joined to a positioning seat 113 of the main shaft 111 by a pin rod 165, and its bottom end pin-joined to the joining seat 141. When the operation rod 1621 of the releasing member 162 releases the confinement exerted by the releasing member 162 on the internal rod 163, the internal rod 163 could be retracted into the external rod 161 and the length of the telescoping rod 16a could be adjusted. The steering assembly 11 therefore could have various degrees of inclination, as shown in FIG. 3.
When the steering assembly 11 is folded toward the footrest 14, a blocking element 166 at the bottom of the internal rod 163 and another blocking element 142 beneath the joining seat 141 jointly maintain a largest degree of inclination for the steering assembly 11, as shown in FIG. 4. On the other hand, the length of the telescoping rod 16a defines the largest elevation angle of the steering assembly 11. Even though the conventional adjustment device 16 has adequately allowed the steering assembly 11 for various degrees of inclination, the telescoping rod 16a has a rather high cost. Therefore, there is a need for a more cost effective adjustment device without sacrificing the function of the adjustable steering assembly.